Tanuki | |
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Restaurant information | |
Established | 2008 |
Closed | 2019 |
Owner(s) | Janis Martin |
Chef | Janis Martin |
Food type | Japanese |
Street address | 8029 Southeast Stark Street |
City | Portland |
State | Oregon |
Postal/ZIP Code | 97215 |
Country | United States |
Coordinates | 45°31′09″N122°34′51″W / 45.5192°N 122.5808°W |
Tanuki was a Japanese restaurant and bar in Portland, Oregon, United States. [1] [2] [3] [4] The business operated from 2008 to 2019.
The Japanese restaurant Tanuki initially operated on 21st Avenue at Flanders Street in northwest Portland's Northwest District, [5] [6] before relocating to the Montavilla neighborhood in 2011. [7] Erin DeJesus described the original space as a "hole-in-the-wall". [8] Signs at the Montavilla space said "No sushi, no kids" and "This is not a Japanese restaurant". [9]
The menu included gyoza, sashimi, [5] kimchi, and oshinko. [10] Tanuki also served fermented noodles, [11] trout in a seaweed butter sauce, kimchi macaroni and cheese, duck heart, various seafood dishes, [12] and buns with kimchi, blue cheese, and sake-cured bacon. [13] The bar stocked Asian beers, [9] sake, shōchū, and Japanese whisky. Among cocktails was the Dejima, which had Damrak gin, St. Germain, and rhubarb bitters. [14]
The restaurant opened on 21st Avenue in 2008. [5] [15] Janis Martin was the chef and owner. [5] [16] In 2011, the restaurant relocated to Stark Street in the southeast Portland part of the Montavilla neighborhood. [7] Tanuki began restricting seating in 2013. [17] Suffering from a seafood allergy, [15] Martin closed Tanuki permanently in 2019 and began working at East Glisan Pizza Lounge. [18]
In 2012, Karen Brooks and Rachel Ritchie included Tanuki in Portland Monthly 's "Best of the Rest", a list of 35 local eateries "that should remain in any food lover's regular rotation". [19] Brooks later called the restaurant the city's "notorious cult izakaya". [20] In 2016, Time Out included Tanuki in a list of the eighteen best Japanese restaurants in the United States. [21]